Menu

a blog devoted to reading, writing, authors & books

Tag Archives: blogging

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the web this month. I’ve gained new followers and found new blogs to follow myself. I’ve blogged from my cell phone – new for me – and blogged from an airport and a different country. While NaBloPoMo can be stressful as I put pressure on myself to churn out way more content than usual, I’m always glad that I participated.

Other November Stats:

Read 3 books:

Juliet Takes a Breath

Holding up the Universe

From Twinkle, With Love

Started 3 other books (but their lending periods ended before I could complete them):

When I started this blog in October of 2013, I was hesitant to make it public. I wasn’t really sure if I had anything to say, and I was nervous about people reading and perhaps even *gasp* commenting on what I wrote. What I soon found out though, was that the blogging community is pretty friendly and supportive. While my best viewership has occurred during NaBloPoMo the last two years, here are a few posts I’ve written that I wish had made more of an impression.

One of the Best (or Worst?) Literary Villains – Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking series, which includes The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men, is simply incredible. I went into the books knowing nothing about the series and ravenously read through the three books (and three short ebooks). I was blown away by the concept, the characters (including a conniving, manipulative villain), the action, and the message. I’m not sure why this 2008 – 2010 series hasn’t gotten more hype. However, that may change soon now that there is a 2019 film version in the works.

Finding Inspiration in the Finger– Perhaps my title didn’t draw people in, but I think the novel Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles deserves some more attention. Has anyone ever “flipped you the bird?” How did it make you feel? Knowles explores how different characters react to “the finger.” Could a single gesture have an impact on the rest of their day? How about their whole outlook?

Entry #22 – Favorite Book – Well, of course I want more people to check out this post! It’s all about my most favorite book. I was hoping to hear that someone else in the blogoshpere was a fan of this book too.

Voldemort Likes My Hair – Come on, that’s a funny title! This blog post details a strange dream I had while re-reading the Harry Potter series. I originally read the books back when they were published and had never re-read them. It was amazing to see how much I had forgotten about the books. Sure, the movies are great, but boy, does J.K. Rowling know how to write.

A Second Look at Allegiant – I was one of the many readers who was disappointed with the third book in Veronica Roth’s Divergent series. After re-reading this book (after quite some time had passed), I didn’t dislike it quite so much… Maybe it will inspire other fans to take a second look at the book as well.

A Love Story for the Ages – perhaps the title of this post turned some readers off, but Paullina Simon’s three book series following Alexander and Tatiana is epic and should be read. While everyone else was reading 50 Shades of Gray, I was reading The Bronze Horseman – a love story that starts at the beginning of WWII during the siege of Leningrad – which doesn’t sound sexy, but guess what? The book is definitely swoon-worthy.

John Green? No thanks. – For someone who really enjoys reading Young Adult literature, I should be a John Green fan. While I enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars (not super-fan status, but it was a solid four-star read), after reading three other of his books, I’m left wondering what all the fuss is about. The pretentious, unlikable characters means I have no need to read any more of his books.

Current Read: I’ll Give You the Sun – I’m hoping that the reason why this post didn’t get many reads was because everyone already read I’ll Give You the Sun and knew that it was fantastic!

Fellow bloggers: Do you have any posts that you wish had gotten more views? Feel free to post a link in the comment section.

Know why I’m excited for NaBloPoMo? Because I get to post more times in one month than I do all year! I posted a pitiful 11 times since NaBloPoMo 2016 wrapped up.

Here’s some of what I’ve been up to:

Family trip to Puerto Vallarta and Merida, Mexico, in March

Grown-up trip to Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend to see J.Lo in concert

Spending time with family in Minnesota in July

Family trip to Los Angeles at the end of July to attend a quinceanera and Disneyland

Smaller trips to visit my parents, who live 2 ½ hours away

Working once or twice a week at my tutoring center, plus doing some editing work from home

Attending a mommy and me dance class on Wednesday nights

Recuperating from back-to-school colds and post-vacation colds!

Visiting the library every two weeks or so

Throwing a Shimmer and Shine birthday party for my three year old

Keeping a toddler who doesn’t nap occupied for 14 hours a day!

This November, I hope to fill my blog with bookish posts – everything from reviews, to quotes, to dream casts, and maybe even some toddler book recommendations. I look forward to reading other bloggers’ posts, too. Stick around and let’s share some book love!

The only NaBloPoMo post I missed was on the very final day! Sort of silly, I know, but we were flying from Mexico to Atlanta to Milwaukee, so it was a long and busy day. When I started NaBloPoMo on November first, I did not have very high hopes for completing the challenge, so I did much better than anticipated.

By the numbers:

306 views

89 likes

27 comments

206 visitors from 29 different countries

10 new followers

This is not a big number for some bloggers, but considering I have less than 160 followers, 10 is a lot! 10 more people found something in common with what I was posting and liked my site enough to want to read more. Thanks!

The month really seemed to fly by (especially since we vacationed in Mexico for six days at the end of the month), so I didn’t even feel like I had time to accomplish all the goals I had envisioned for myself on the first day of the month. That’s okay though. I revived an old work-in-progress, posted thirty times, commented on other people’s blogs, and jumped back into blogging. It was also rather comforting to read that a lot of other people all over the country were just as shocked and dismayed as I was about the election results. It will be interesting to see how this all looks next November.

NaBloPoMo was just the creative boost I needed to wrap up 2016. Now, it’s time for Christmas shopping, decorating for the holidays, and spending time with family and friends. Thanks again for taking the time to check out my blog this month.

It was 70 degrees today. On November 17th. In Wisconsin! My daughter and I played outside at a park. Without coats on. Did I mention we live in Wisconsin? It was too beautiful today to spend time on my computer, so it’ll be a short post.

During last year’s NaBloPoMo, I came up with a list of goals for my blog. Looking back at that list…I failed miserably. I think the only one I succeeded at was creating a new web banner.

So today, I updated my About page. Now I completed two things on my list! Please check it out and tell me what you think.

The rest of the goals still feel relevant to me, so I will continue working on this list. Hopefully I’ll have a few more of them completed by the next time NaBloPoMo rolls around!

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I started blogging. Based on the failed journals and diaries of my past, I thought it was something I’d try, but wouldn’t succeed at. I’m proud of myself for really giving the blog a chance—even during the summer slump.

Looking at the stats, I’ve been visited by 675 viewers in 18 different countries and have almost 80 followers. While these numbers may seem small to some bloggers, I’m absolutely amazed! I’m glad I was able to post about topics that other people cared about as well. My top blog posts of the year were: